Mette Bloch: An honest conversation about hot flashes, hormones and handling
If there's anything that makes me uncomfortable, it's the taste of food when it's left my mouth and moved on. Don't you know that? The taste of onion, curry, egg or perhaps fish? It's super fine as long as I'm eating, but the second after I've put the cutlery for "20 over five" on my plate, the taste has to be GONE!
So when I saw that you could get vitamins as wine gums, I was lucky. Imagine being able to combine your urge to just "cleanse the palette" after dinner, with a snack that also covers your vitamin needs? What a blast!
I spoke to the team behind VitaYummy and it only made the products more interesting. Because in addition to having the vitamins I already want to take, they told me that a product for menopausal women was to be launched. HUH! it's ME after all!
I am very happy to be able to participate, and want to test the new thing, because if you are a woman in menopause, you know that you take ALL the help you can get.
No two menopauses are the same, but for the vast majority there are changes in body and mind that can be felt. For me it's mainly been a physical change, not so much something I've felt mentally, other than maybe I've become gentler and a bit lazy, kind of like an old labrador. But I'm actually fine with that.
The challenge for me is the damn hot flashes. I can boil over in an instant and if you haven't been there (yet) I can tell you that it feels a bit like being wrapped in rain gear while you suffocate… in a sauna…
It lasts a few minutes at most, you've sweated and ripped off clothes if the opportunity was present, and now you're freezing. It's such a cool game that can play out every few minutes for a looooooong time if your body has really decided to play tricks.
When you feel like this, and in periods when it's bad, then sleep can also be something you have to look long for. It is interrupted by the uncomfortable sensation of hot flashes, and in general, most women who are in, or have been through, the menopause know the feeling of rotating like a barbecue chicken on a skewer. It's just not cool.
Am I that sad to be the age I am, with the challenges that come with it? Hrmmm… Basically, no. I live with the hot flashes and verbalize them if people look worried when I'm copper-red in the egg and look like someone about to pass out. "Don't be nervous, I'm 58... I'm allowed to sweat without being ashamed" is my standard comment, and then the person who worries doesn't have to continue with the worry.
I actually also thought it was a bit strange to call it menopause? Transition to what? to become a REAL adult? - isn't it just a kind of 18th birthday party one more time?
The hormones also controlled everything back then, and such a puberty-stricken teen could be both annoying, too much, too lazy, too little and too hyper. It is exactly the same thing that is happening here. Because when hormones decide to let go of the reins and do as they see fit, it may well present the host with some challenges.
For some the answer is to keep them on a tight leash with hormones, for others it is to live in the chaos that unfolds. Nothing is wrong, you choose what is best, but what I am looking forward to is giving you my experiences with the new products that are coming, and also telling you about what I feel is particularly good for me, among all the good ones products VitaYummy has on the shelf.
If you have questions about menopause or things you just want to get rid of, out with or vent, then let me know. I and a couple of the other ambassadors will focus on it over the next year (at least) - not because it is "Taboo", because there is nothing taboo about growing up, but it can be difficult to find your feet, and we hope we can help you with that, both with good products and some good conversations, which we will post here at VitaYummy.